


for now

by rivalmatisse



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: not sure what this is but i wrote it in like an hour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28412628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rivalmatisse/pseuds/rivalmatisse
Summary: The only memory Link has of Princess Zelda are multiple times she was resentful towards him, and one time she saved his life.Of course, this makes things a little awkward for him when he meets her again after a hundred years.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	for now

**Author's Note:**

> i might have forgotten that you need all the other memories to be able to see the one where zeldas power appears and she saves link. please excuse this for the sake of a short bit of writing lol
> 
> the memories Link has "unlocked" are all champion memories (Revali's Flap, Daruk's Mettle, Urbosa's Hand, Mipha's Touch) as well as the ones where Zelda is sad/angry toward Link (Subdued Ceremony, Resolve and Grief, Zelda's Resentment), and finally both Despair, and Zelda's Awakening.

The battle is over- lost and won on two separate halves. The reddish light that had been plaguing everywhere in sight for the past day or so was beginning to dissipate. Behind it, wispy white clouds curtaining a pale blue sky, just tinted golden with the sunrise, and with the light emitting from one of the two lone figures on the field. The glowing one turns to the other, slowly, a little unsteadily.

“Do you remember me?” asks Princess Zelda, her entire body still appearing to glow slightly, though the light seems to be fading as the sky and the rest of the world around them returns to normal.

Link… isn’t sure how to respond to her query.

He remembers her. Or… some of her. Just as how he only remembers fragments and shards of his old life, he only remembers tiny pieces of the girl before him. And only one of those tiny pieces was anything remotely pleasant.

The Princess Zelda in the broken mirror that is his memory would never have looked upon him with the warmth and emotion that is currently resting on the girl’s face. She waits patiently for a reply, watching him with those beautiful eyes that are just as green and just as lonely as the endless plains of Hyrule.

There’s no easy answer.

A “no, sorry,” would only cause her upset, judging by the fondness in which she’s looking at him, plus it would be a lie. He _does_ remember her. It’s just…

He can’t say “yes” either, because she might think his memory was never damaged in the first place. And then there’s the matter of _how_ he remembers her. Telling her that he only remembers her jealousy and anger towards him would surely hurt- or at least embarrass- her, and he certainly doesn’t want that.

But he’s been thinking for too long, though maybe she can’t quite tell that. He’s had time to adjust after a hundred year’s slumber- time feels normally fast to him, now. Maybe she’s in a state of not really knowing how much time is passing between every time she blinks. He remembers feeling like that for a good few days after he’d woken up. And every so often it happens again. He could be watching a crab wander about on Lurelin bay, blink, and suddenly the sun had set. Time took some getting used to, after a hundred years’ stasis.

“Um,” he says, and surprise flickers across her face. Right. He didn’t talk before, he’s sort of sure. Sort of. That’s an answer right there, “I only… sort of remember you.”

Her face seems to fall, just as the very last remnant of the golden glow vanishes. He feels a sharp pang of sympathy, though he isn’t entirely sure why.

The instinctive side of his mind wants to walk away right now. Take his horse and leave her stranded in the field. All he can remember of this Princess is her shouting at him for things he didn’t want or ask for. He never volunteered to be her personal knight, that was thrust upon him. He never volunteered to be a Champion- that was thrust upon him. And he certainly didn’t ask anyone- let alone any Goddess, who seemed to be the only one who could decide upon such things- if he could be the Hero of a prophecy and fight the most terrifying evil known to every being in the land! He hadn’t asked for any of it- and yet she had seemed angry at him for it all.

But the more reasonable side of him can see the look on her face- far different from the scowling girl in the majority of his memories- and he remembers one more thing. That time, the most recent thing he can remember before waking up, when she was prepared to lose her life to protect his. A girl who hated his very existence wouldn’t do that.

So he knows, somewhere along the line, something changed her mind about him. Whether it had been one of the other Champions, something he himself had done, she had simply decided to change her mind, or something else entirely, he didn’t know.

“May I ask… what do you remember of me?” she asks, her voice small, worried.

Link thinks again. What she’s worried about… is there something specific, or is she just worried that all he can remember is her unpleasantness?

Is she worried that he blames her for his circumstances; for the entire world’s circumstances?

Is she worried that he thinks that she failed?

And curiosity hits him… what does she remember of him?

But he recognises that now is not the time to ask. He can ask his questions later.

He sighs, and finally remembers to put the sword back in its sheath.

“I remember that you saved my life, Princess Zelda.” Link says, and he cannot help the warmth that seeps into his voice.

Her face almost seems to glow again as she smiles faintly, and Link decides that’s all she needs to know, for now.

The rest can come later.

For her to know that he doesn’t at all resent her, just as for now he's quite sure she doesn't resent him. 

For now, for both of them, that’s enough.


End file.
